HMA suitors identified, including Community Health Systems

Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA), a hospital operator considering strategic alternatives, reached its highest market value in six years on Tuesday after a news report said the company has attracted takeover interest.

Health Management gained 7.6 percent to $16.64 at 3:01 p.m. New York time, after earlier reaching $17.06, the highest intraday price since March 2007. The Naples-based company had attracted interest from Community Health Systems Inc. (CYH), the second-largest publicly traded U.S. hospital company, and other rivals, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The other rivals are HCA Holdings Inc and LifePoint Hospitals Inc.

Health Management, which operates 71 hospitals in the U.S. and is slated to begin leasing Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, said last month it had hired Morgan Stanley and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP as advisers to consider strategic alternatives in the face of pressure from its largest shareholder, Glenview Capital Management LLC, to oust the board and top executives.

MaryAnn Hodge, a spokeswoman for Health Management, said Tuesday that the company doesn’t intend “to disclose developments with respect to the foregoing until such time as the board deems further disclosure appropriate.”